Project Prospect's Midseason Top 50

June 25, 2007
Check back every Monday for the only regularly updated in-season prospect rankings on the internet
No. Player   Pos Notes Age Org Level   Pre.
1   Phil Hughes   RHP   Was able to remove his ankle boot last week; starting a throwing program   21   NYY   MLB   2 ↑
2   Yovani Gallardo   RHP   Minors' K leader since '06; chasing No. 1 w/ a pair of great big league starts   21   MIL   MLB   3 ↑
3   Billy Butler   1B   Doubled in his 2nd ab back in majors (6/23); hit .237/.382/.475 in June (AAA)   21   KC   MLB   4 ↑
4   Jay Bruce   CF   Didn't waste much time before first AA HR (2nd game); 4-for-12 so far in AA   20   CIN   AA   5 ↑
5   Ryan Braun   3B   Major league .330/.372/.592 vital line is just godly; .522/.607/1.174 vs. lefties   23   MIL   MLB   6 ↑
6   Clay Buchholz   RHP   Became minors' 4th 100K man on 6/20 with a 6 K performance; 18 BB in '07   22   BOS   AA   8 ↑
7   Evan Longoria   3B   Close to batting .300 for first time since June 6th after an 11-game hit streak   21   TB   AA   7 ↔
8   Colby Rasmus   CF   Though he only had four hits last week (26 ab), three of them were bombs   20   STL   AA   12 ↑
9   Brandon Wood   3B   One of the hottest hitters in the minors; 10-for-24 w/ 2 HR and 2 2B last week   22   LAA   MLB   11 ↑
10   Jarrod Saltalamacchia   C   On pace to hold onto rookie status through August; .310/.355/.451 in bigs   22   ATL   MLB   10 ↔
11   Justin Upton   CF   Hitting .273/.348/.364 on road in AA (77 ab); don't just rest on his home stats   19   ARI   AA   9 ↓
12   Clayton Kershaw   LHP   Showing he has as much potential as anyone on this list with a 33.0% K rate   19   LAD   A   13 ↑
13   Adam Jones   CF   His .360/.415/.744 June (86 at-bats) has him knocking at big league door again 21   SEA   MLB   20 ↑
14   Homer Bailey   RHP   Up to 11 BB vs. 7 K in 18.0 big league innings, but has produced a .230 BAA   21   CIN   MLB   14 ↔
15   Andrew Miller   LHP   Struck out just two but walked just two in 6.0 four-hit, MLB innings on Sunday 22   DET   MLB   15 ↔
16   Cameron Maybin   CF   Two of his five hits last week were 2B and a .302/.401/.455 FSL line isn't bad   20   DET   A+   19 ↑
17   Fernando Martinez   CF   Hit in all five games last week (three multi-hit games) including 2 2B and a HR   18   NYM   AA   18 ↑
18   Andy LaRoche   3B   Recurring right shoulder soreness may explain his struggles this season   23   LAD   MLB   16 ↓
19   Felix Pie   CF   Will graduate to bigs this week barring injury; .227/.281/.367 though 128 ab   22   CHC   MLB   17 ↓
20   Daric Barton   1B   3B experiment may be over but it jump started his bat; .512/.549/1.281 in June   21   OAK   AAA   29 ↑
21   Jacoby Ellsbury   CF   Caugh stealing twice last week; 6-for-20 brings him to .259/.337/.329 June   23   BOS   AAA   27 ↑
22   Will Inman   RHP   Bounced back from 2.2 IP, 6 ER AA debut w/ 6.0 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, and 6 K   20   MIL   AA   24 ↑
23 Neil Walker   3B   Already has 2x as many HR as last year (10 vs. 5) + BB/K is much improved   21   PIT   AA   69 ↑
24   Kevin Slowey   RHP   Scheduled to start today for 1st time since 6/17; 5.1 IP, 8 H, 4 ER that outing   23   MIN   MLB   22 ↓
25 Adam Miller   RHP   Very close to a return after being shut down on 5/12 with a finger injury   22   CLE   AAA   25 ↔
26   Reid Brignac   SS   Hasn't brought average above .260 since late-May; .201/.264/.352 vs. RHP   21   TB   AA   21 ↓
27   Jacob McGee   LHP   Has 35 K vs. 5 BB over last 5 GS, but .265 BAA and 4 HR during that span   20   TB   A+   32 ↑
28   Wade Davis   RHP   Went 6.1 innings, and allowed 7 H, 1 ER in AA debut (6/20) w/ 9 K vs. 0 BB   21   TB   AA   56 ↑
29   Joey Votto   1B   May only be a solid MLBer even with benefit of Cinci home park; 27.7% XBH   23   CIN   AAA   26 ↓
30   Carlos Gomez   CF   Averaging more than 6 K for every walk in the big leagues; too raw for the lvl   21   NYM   MLB   28 ↓
31   Joba Chamberlain   RHP   Has 26 K vs. 6 BB and .186 BAA in AA (16.2 IP); having trouble getting GB   21   NYY   AA   24 ↓
32   Andrew McCutchen   CF   Like Longoria and Brignac, really struggling against righties (.198/.262/.273)   20   PIT   AA   30 ↓
33   Luke Hochevar   RHP   Not walking batters (2 BB in last 5 GS), but getting hit hard (.284 BAA to date)   23   KC   AA   40 ↑
34   Asdrubal Cabrera   SS   Taking advantage of Akron's confines; jump starting a potential solid MLB bat   21   CLE   AAA   52 ↑
35   Deolis Guerra   RHP   Walked 16.3% of the batters he faced in '06; has only walked 9.0% this year   18   NYM   A+   57 ↑
36   Michael Bowden   RHP   On a bit of a slide after walking 6 and striking out 11 over last 3 starts (15.0 IP) 20   BOS   AA   31 ↓
37   Matt Garza   RHP   HR rate is solid (4 in 87.0 IP), K/BB rate is OK (2.87), but his 1.31 WHIP is ugly   23   MIN   MLB   38 ↑
38   Lars Anderson   1B   Showing an approach beyond his years; four 2B in four games last week   19   BOS   A   43 ↑
39   Josh Fields   3B   Definitely produced before his call-up, but he was a 24-year-old in the minors   24   CHW   MLB   NR
40   Jose Tabata   RF   Though he is battling through the FSL, his 16.0 XBH% is very unimpressive   18   NYY   A+   35 ↓
41   Elvis Andrus   SS   Hasn't finished a single month this season with an OPS over .700; 29.0 XBH% 18   ATL   A+   37 ↓
42   Bill Rowell   3B   In a 52 at-bat homerless skid; batting .262/.336/.417 in SAL (a hitter's league)   18   BAL   A   41 ↓
43   Jeff Clement   C   Coming off 12-for-25 week (7 XBH), he's .368/.438/1.175 w/ 6 HR this month   23   SEA   AAA   NR
44   Travis Snider   RF   .405/.419/.646 in April; .295/.371/.449 in May; .254/.294/.381 so far in June   19   TOR   A   34 ↓
45   Max Scherzer   RHP   5.0 IP, 5 H, 4 K AA debut wasn't staggering; 30 K vs. 2 BB in 17.0 A+ IP was   22   ARI   AA   NR
46   Ian Stewart   3B   Just .255/.339/.393 on the road; don't expect him to be above-average MLBer   22   COL   AAA   50 ↑
47   Brett Anderson   LHP   Perhaps the most polished HS pitcher from '06 draft; has 85 K vs. just 10 BB   19   ARI   A+   47 ↔
48   Johnny Whittleman   3B   2005 2nd rounder has 36 XBH in MWL (46.8 XBH%); .318/.422/.579 overall   20   TEX   A   68 ↑
49   Chris Marrero   LF   Batting .310/.394/.345 after a week's worth of A+ games; .293/.337/.545 in A   18   WAS   A+   58 ↑
50   Andy Sonnanstine   RHP   .292 BAA and 7 HR allowed in 26.0 MLB IP, but 21 K vs. 3 BB is promising   24   TB   MLB   62 ↑
Honorable Mentions: Carlos Gonzalez, Greg Reynolds, Ian Kennedy, Tommy Hanson, Gio Gonzalez, Carlos Truinfel, Bryan Anderson, Eric
Hurley, Rick Vanden Hurk, Carlos Carrasco, Wladimir Balentien, Chase Headley, Jeff Niemann, Jaime Garcia, and Phil Humber.        
Graduated (final ranking): Tim Lincecum (1).                
Dropped Out of Top 50 (previous ranking): Nick Adenhart (39), Carlos Gonzalez (42), Jeff Niemann (44), Jaime Garcia (45), Eric Hurley (48),
and Phil Humber (49).                        
* Our rankings combine a player's ceiling with the odds that he'll reach it and favor recent production                
** Only players with less than 130 pro at-bats or less than 50 pro innings are considered for our rankings                
*** Ages are as of July 1st, 2007                    
**** Level is the highest level the player has reached                
***** Pre. is the player's rankings from last week's Top 25 or our quarter season Top 50.                
                             
<<< Click here to see our June 18th Top 25 Rankings                
<<< Click here to see our May 22nd Top 50 Rankings                

 

Notes
For those of you who follow my weekly rankings, take note that I altered my prospect ranking program to weigh 2006 stats half as much as a did last week. So before you get too excited about any drastic movement, chew on that adjustment for a minute.

I am prepared to answer questions both in our forums and upon email request,

Adam Foster
Project Prospect Founder
adamf@projectprospect.com